Separation characters of dewatering hydrocyclone with annular vortex finder based on particle image velocimetry and experiments

• Published in: Separation and purification technology Vol. 353; p. 128619
• Main Authors: Zhao, Wei, Li, Jian-ping, Zhang, Tong, Wei, Ao-song, Li, Shi-yun, Yang, Dan-hui, Yang, Xue-jing, Jiang, Xia, Wang, Hualin
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 19.01.2025
• Subjects: Annular vortex finder; Hydrocyclone; PIV; Separation efficiency; Short-circuit flow; Annular vortex finder; Hydrocyclone; PIV; Short-circuit flow; Separation efficiency
• ISSN: 1383-5866
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2024.128619

[Display omitted] •The AVF-S structure eliminates short-circuit flow (SCF).•The separation efficiency of AVFH-S is increased by 4.90 % compared with VFH-C.•AVF strengthened separation by draining SCF and extending LZVV diameter.•AVFH-S is expected to achieve efficient separation of catalysts in PAO. The development of non-thermal separation techniques can provide new ideas for efficient and low-consumption separation of oil–water mixtures. As a typical non-thermal separation equipment, the separation performance of hydrocyclone is limited by the short-circuit flow (SCF). In this study, an annular vortex finder hydrocyclone (AVFH) is proposed by the structural innovation of increasing the annular vortex finder (AVF) to solve the problem of SCF. The effects of AVF structure with different insertion depths on the flow field characteristics and separation performance of the hydrocyclone were investigated by particle image velocimetry experiments and performance experiments. The results indicate that the SCF can be significantly reduced by increasing the AVF structure. When the inlet velocity was 5 m/s, the SCF rate of AVFH-S was reduced to 0. The AVFH-S achieves a maximum separation efficiency of 84.71 %, which is 4.90 % higher than that of the VFH-C. Compared with the existing disc centrifuge process, the separation efficiency after AVFH-S treatment increased by 6.80 %. This study provides theoretical support for regulating SCF to improve the separation efficiency of hydrocyclone, and lays a foundation for the optimization and expansion of the application of non-thermal separation equipment.